Specializaton versus Generalization
Why do some people crave mastery while other people crave variety?
It is evident, especially in today’s global economy and internet-age, that specialization is usually necessary in order to achieve significant and lasting accomplishments. At a time where nearly anyone can learn simple skills from youtube within an hour or two, it still takes thousands of hours in order to achieve expertise, and still thousands more in order to achieve mastery. Being a decent singer is no longer sufficient to achieve fame. Our standards of excellence have become higher than ever, as we are exposed to the entire talent pool of our eight billion-plus population on a nearly daily basis.
Thus, the question of why some people are able to focus on one area for decades in order to achieve mastery, is more important than ever.
If we step inside the mind of a master, we see a deep patience within. We see a mind that is satisfied with subtlety, a mind that is not bothered with repetition. We see a mind that recognizes the importance of being the absolute best in a particular field. This individual values incremental advances in a specific field, be it art, music, or science. They appreciate the decades spent learning the intricacies of a subject, even if the end result is a single article, or a single song that pushes the field forward. There is an almost slave-like allegiance towards the pursuit of expertise in these people, whereby they will forego the myriad varieties of experiences in exchange for a single-minded pursuit towards greatness. Additionally, there is undoubtedly a focus on outcome and goals for these individuals that supersedes the value of the experience itself. Being great is more important than being happy. Producing the greatest work, despite it taking decades, is better than learning a variety of skills, in spite of the repetitive nature of the task. Most people like variety, be it their food, their entertainment, or their vacations. Yet, these masters are able to overcome this draw towards variety and focus on one field for years.
In the other pond, we find the jack-of-all-trades. The people who love learning for learning’s sake, and who relish variety. The people who, as soon as proficiency is achieved, become bored with the long amount of time required to gain expertise. Learning is much like a logarithmic growth curve, whereby the greatest amount of learning is accomplished in the first half of the exercise. As proficiency is gained, an increasing amount of time must be devoted in order to realize further gains towards expertise. Therefore, the reward per hour spent learning goes down. It becomes less obviously satisfying to learn as an expert than it does to learn as an amateur. Additionally, the proficient person quickly realizes that he could choose to spend thousands more hours in order to achieve expertise, OR he could turn around, and spend some time helping others to achieve proficiency. If he could help thirty people achieve proficient levels, surely that would be more satisfying than having one person achieve expertise. This individual might seek larger surges of dopamine than is ordinarily achieved during the rise from expertise to mastery. This person enjoys the experience of learning something new, but finds the repetition and subtlety inherent in the road to mastery tiresome.
Further, the question that arises in the mind of a jack-of-all-trades is often, why bother with mastery? If we take the example of physical therapy as a skill that can lead to mastery after decades, we can analyze the pros and cons. One individual could strive to be a master physical therapist. After achieving proficiency, he is able to practice therapy. But, not satisfied with merely practicing proficiently, he wishes to achieve expertise. So much of his time is devoted to furthering his education, including more schooling, lectures, reading, and workshops. Over many years, expertise is achieved. But the individual craves mastery. Eventually, with more years of focus, he achieves mastery. Finally, he is one of the best therapists in the world. But he is still only able to treat one patient at a time. The jack-of-all-trades, on the other hand, stopped at proficiency, and decided to teach others proficiency. Over the next two decades, he teaches thousands of students to graduate through physical therapy school and become proficient therapists. Many of those proficient therapists may go on to become experts and one may go on to become a master. Both individuals are helping the world of physical therapy with decidedly different approaches.
There is no right or wrong, or better or worse to this comparison. And of course, a master can also become a teacher, although teaching mastery is usually a one-on-one endeavor, unlike the larger classrooms where typical proficiency is taught. The higher the level of skill of an individual, the more individualized the instruction needs to be. If only masters existed, there wouldn’t be enough people to teach the masses.
Due to globalization and the internet, the obsession over mastery is peaking. The emphasis on specialization shows no sign of slowing, with the word “renaissance-man” increasingly falling out of favor. While I value what masters are, and what they can show us, I feel there is something lost with the turn away from the renaissance-man. Many connections and patterns can only be discovered with a thorough knowledge of multiple subjects. It is through a combination of masters and jack-of-all-trades that we will be able to achieve the next stage of evolution of the human race. We must recognize that these distinct groups of people are fundamentally different in what motivates them, and equally different in how they benefit society. Despite our relentless drive towards mastery, we need to hesitate and listen to the wisdom of the renaissance men to put the master’s achievements into perspective. The creation of a nuclear bomb was the result of several masters working together. But understanding the impact on humanity, and what to do with this new technology required a largely different set of skills that these masters lacked. We’ve been out of balance for some time. We’ve been focusing on the masters and the heroes to save us. But this next phase of humanity is going to require a careful coordination with both masters and renaissance men to bring everyone together, reach across disciplines, and unite humanity against our existential threats that sit poised to eradicate us.
